


Rumble at the Ruins of Time

by NeonCityLights



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fluff, KidClone, M/M, Magic, One Shot, Romantic Comedy, The whole shabang, Time Travel, dash of angst?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 20:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16024991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeonCityLights/pseuds/NeonCityLights
Summary: Fate summoned Conner, Wally, and Zatanna as per his agreement with the League to help him fight Klarion. Things don't go as planned.





	Rumble at the Ruins of Time

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for months, fine tuning every little detail to make it perfect. I was so hesitant to post this, but it's been in my file long enough to the point that I better post it or delete it. Then I realized there was hardly nothing on this site with this pairing. Heck, never saw it on those massive lists of possible ship names. Enjoy!

The dig site was in ruins, and Conner couldn't have been more proud.

He went from obelisk to obelisk, crumbling each one beneath his fists until their glowing glyphs flickered out. He would then grab the largest chunk from the pile and fling it as far as he could into the cold Nevada desert. All in all, it was a delaying tactic. The ritual was well on it's way, but Klarion would have to divide his attention between Fate and gathering the pieces to mend each obelisk back together. Not exactly a position of opportunity when your stretching yourself thin.

Needless to say, Klarion was livid.

The witch sneered out a phrase in old Gaelic and Conner slid to a stop. He felt his body lock up as the curse dug into him. Crimson energy wound through Klarion's fingers. Whatever was coming his way would be like hitting the broad side of a barn with a tractor. He closed his eyes and braced for impact when a blast of golden energy sent the witch flying into a wall.

"It is over, Klarion." Fate said, voice reverberating off of the ruins and digging equipment. Cape billowing in the wind, he descended from the sky to lock eyes with his advisory. "Your ritual has been sabotaged, your anchor to this world, wounded. Bow your head and yield."

Klarion forced a smile through gritted teeth and peeled himself off the wall. "But Nabu, our little play date isn't ov-"

Rebar coiled around him like a constrictor snake.

Conner's eyes flicked to Zatanna, who walked up to the edge of the dig site. The moon was at her back, and the curls in her hair bounced in the breeze. Despite looking worse for ware she stood tall and proud, wearing the gashes and patches of blood that decorated her outfit in pride.

A limp Teekl floated at her side.

Eyes glowing and arms outstretched, she tore a whole in the fabric of space with a single word. It stayed open for a split second, unfathomable and chaotic, but that was long enough for a red and yellow blur to escape.

Klarion screamed as Kid Flash blitzed around the room, waving a silver amulet over every glowing rune and glyph etched into the stone. The whole area dimmed as residual energy poured into the amulet. Hours of Klarion's work came undone in seconds.

Zatanna smirked. "What was that about a 'play date'?"

"Took you long enough," Conner said, giving Wally a grin as he skidded to a halt.

Wally returned it with a wink. "Had to stop a few muggings and rescue people from house fires on my way here."

The two were in the middle of a debriefing when Dr. Fate summoned them along with Zatanna to aid him in his battle against Klarion. Zatanna had the right item to disrupt the ritual, but it was back at the cave. Both magic users were kept busy with Klarion and his cat, so Kid Flash sped back to retrieve it.

By the look Zatanna gave him, it was apparent that she wanted to end this now rather then later.

Klarion let out a frustrated growl and gave everyone a wide smile when all eyes turned to him. He shrugged his shoulders, well, as much as he could while being tied from head to toe in rebar. "This has all been lovely, but I must bid my farewell."

There was a dissonant whisper laced in his words followed by a high pitched whistle from the amulet. A spark of red arched off it's surface.

The explosion was instant: Zatanna flinched, surrounding herself in a glittering barrier that shielded her from the blast. Fate gave it but a glance before raising his hand to deliver the final blow that would miss by a hairs breadth. And Wally dropped the amulet, back pedaling as fast as he could, but it wasn't fast enough.

Conner was only able to take a half step forward when a blinding flash of hot, white light took his vision. The following clap of thunder sent him flying though a pillar. He has taken harder hits, but the magic hit his system like a handful of Kryptonite.

"Wally!" Conner shouted, finding himself standing despite how bad his super senses were reeling.

He could barely see through the dust, barely hear anything through the ringing in his ears. Conner pulled the rag from his back pocket to breathe through, but the air was dense with magic. Every gulp of air felt like breathing though a straw. Yet, he continued on, stumbling over the ruble and upturned earth.

A golden light shone from above, and Conner watched as the dust was sucked into one of Fate's mystical ankhs. Zatanna landed next to him, words rolling of her lips as she gestured wildly. Conner's stomach churned, but the weight on his chest elevated as the pressure around them receded into an ever growing barrier.

And that's when Conner saw it. A crater formed right on the spot where Wally was last standing. His heart skipped a beat. A scream tore from his lips, sounding more desperate as he climbed up the side of the crater to peer over it's edge.

"Wally!" His voice boomed through the silence.

"Dude, chill!"

Conner laughed like a mad man when the words registered. He slid down the crater where Wally was digging himself out the sand. Conner ignored the protests of "I got this" and the swears of "What the fuck is going on" and lifted Wally to his feet by the shoulders.

The glaring obvious killed his jubilation.

He held Wally at arms length to examine him. "You're short."

That wasn't the only thing. His costume was replaced with civvies. Despite the sand, Conner could see he was wearing plaid over a yellow shirt with worn in jeans and a pair of sneakers that have seen better days.

Wally, who was dusting himself off, paused briefly to let the statement sink in. "Thanks, I guess? Not like I have issues with my height or anything." He wiped the sand from his eyes, blinking a few times before taking Conner in. "Dude, love the new look. Gloves and short sleeves are in and all, but what's going on. What happened to the mountain?"

"Mountain? Wally, you just exploded! We were fighting Klarion when he did something to Zee's amulet." Conner felt Wally tense up from the panic in his voice. He took a deep breath to steady himself before asking in a much calmer tone. "Are you okay?"

"I-I think so," Wally said. He looked down, Conner following his gaze to his open palm. The amulet was wound around his hand. The once shiny silver was now completely tarnished. "Is this the amulet you were talking about?"

Zatanna let out a sigh, the sound making both boys jump. Wally started at her with a wide eyed look and mouth slightly open. He took a few steps back from the two of them, clutching the amulet to his chest.

"There goes three years of hard work," Zatanna said. She glanced up from the trinket, giving Wally a once over before quirking her brow. "What the hell happened to you?"

Conner crossed his arms. "Real helpful, Zee. Do I need a second opinion?"

"Zatanna?" Wally muttered to himself, catching their attention. He avoided their gazes, but it was clear by the look in his eyes that the gears in his mind were racing.

"Look no further, Superboy, for the answer is more self evident then you think." Fate said, descending from the sky to hover a few meters away from them. If Wally was gawking at Zatanna, then his jaw certainly hit the floor at the sight.

Fate continued. "I apologize with your hastily summons, but the ritual Klarion was performing was a lot more thought out then I first perceived." He gestured to the stones imbedded near by. "To put it simple, the purpose of these ruins was to amass cosmic energy at an exponential rate. It is evident by young Wallace West that his goal was time travel."

"And we failed," Conner said, scrunching up his face in anger and tightening his hands into fists. Wally was taken aback by the sound of defeat in his voice. Conner showing raw emotion? The last few moments had him reeling.

"Not at all. The future isn't set in stone, but the past is. Backwards time travel through mystical means takes an extraordinary amount of power. The amount of energy Klarion's spell took from the amulet was only fractional compared to what he needed to make a dent in the time stream."

Wally let out a frustrated huff. None of this made since, at least, none of the academic journals he read agreed with this. "What are you talking about!? There has to be some damage done. I mean, I'm here after all."

"Only temporarily. Our Wallace, your future self, will be returned shortly. The time stream is made up of sturdier stuff then you think, boy. It can handle such a small crease." He turned to the others, an ankh forming behind him. "I must go. Klarion was able to escape, and I can't afford to let his trail go cold. Not when I'm this close. The time stream can handle subtle changes, and all will be set right momentarily."

Fates' narrowed his eyes. "Don't complicate things."

He levitated backward into the ankh, allowing the golden energy to wrap around him and whisk him away.

Silence followed his departure.

"So," Wally said. "Whose Fate? The last time I saw the helmet, it was on the souvenir shelf in the cave."

Zatanna and Conner shared a glance, and Wally watched them carry a whole conversation through shifting facial features and small gestures. There was a look in Zee's eyes, a spark of something Wally couldn't place and an eagerness to her movements. Conner stood firm, ending their wordless communication with a shake of his head.

Zatanna hissed through her teeth with an intake of breath. "That's-"

"A spoiler," Conner cut her off, giving her a stern look.

"Riiight," Wally drawled. You needed laser vision to cut through the tension in the air. He turned towards Conner after another beat of silence. "Umm, are you okay? You seem a little...off."

"Off?" Zatanna said, crossing her arms. The tension eased as both her and Conner welcomed the distraction.

Wally shrugged his shoulders awkwardly. "It's just-you haven't stopped smiling at me...""

"Wait a minute. Conner being happy is freaking you out? Not me being taller, or in an entirely different outfit?"

He made another noncommittal shrug. "Well, yeah-I mean, I'm just so used to grumpy old you. By the way, why don't you look different, Conner?"

"Spoiler," Conner said, trying and failing to hold back a smile from the look Zee gave him. He took a step forward toward Wally, trying to hide his excitement, but it just made him appear fidgety. "I'm sorry," He made incomprehensible gesture, "Can I just..."

"Um, sure?" Wally rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Whatever floats your bo-"

Conner hugged him. Wally tensed under the embrace, the image of a boulder snapping a twig flashing through his mind. He relaxed after coming to the realization that this wasn't going to end any time soon and leaned into the hug, resting his head on the nape of Conner's neck.

"What was that about?" Wally said when they pulled apart. Conner was holding onto his forearms, examining Wally's face closely. For some reason, he couldn't find any awkwardness in how intimate it was.

"You hit a growth spurt at the end of your Junior year. Never got to relish how much shorter you were compared to me."

Wally beamed under that statement.

"Hey!" Zatanna's voice startled the two. "How isn't that considered a spoiler?"

"Because it's inevitable. Not like he can avoid it, anyway."

Zatanna crossed her arms. "Really, Conner? I know your dropping some hints, Mr. Subtle. Why don't you just tell him that-"

"Spoiler!" Conner said, letting go of Wally. "He'll figure that on his own."

"Well, at least give him some life advice."

"I...that sound like a big nudge there, Zee."

"Fine, but we'll save him a lot of heartbreak if we tell him about-"

"Spoiler."

"Conner. I'm starting to feel like you stole that phrase from B-"

"Spoiler." There was a hint of a playful smile in the corners of his mouth. "I'll pay them for the copyright later."

"Oh," Wally said catching their attention. He lifted his hand to find the tips of his fingers starting to fade. "Man that feels tingly. Well, I guess this is it. And i'm gonna lie and say this was enlightening. Anything else I should know?"

"Wait!" Conner said. He grabbed his rag, held Wally's face, and whipped away the dirt on his cheeks. "I wanted to see those freckles one last time."

Wally chuckled. "What are you, my gran?"

Conner hummed, watching as the boy in front of him began to fade away. "Close. Don't write me off so easily as some sort of dunder-head. We get close, Wally. It just took awhile for one of us to take the first step, Kid-Can't-Take-A-Hint."

Wally burst out into laughter, leaning into Conner's touch as his body became more transparent. His eye's opened wide in surprise, and took a step back from Conner, who shared his panic look. There was a new spark in those emerald eyes, and Conner knew in that moment he said to much.

"Wait!" His voice was but a faint echo. "Are you saying we get tog-"

And he was gone.

There was a blinding flash of white light, followed by a sudden force of pressure that made Conner's ears pop. When he opened his eyes, Wally was standing there. His Wally. It was like he never left, save for the black eye and cuts in his costume.

"What happened to you?" Conner said.

Wally shrugged his shoulders, stopping short to grimace at the pain he felt. "A bit of time travel. I'm guessing a little, scrappier version of me showed up here? Thought so. Got in a little fight with the team, and couldn't exactly open my mind for Megan to rummage through. Spoilers and all that."

Zatanna grinned. "I'm glad these last five years gave you an edge."

"I'm...actually kind of hurt that everyone was so ready to fight a speedster at that age. Especially Artemis, man, those arrows hurt."

Conner said, "Who gave you that shiner?

"Who do you think, babe?"

Conner's eyes went wide. "I am so sorry, Wally. I didn't-"

Seeing the distress in his boyfriend's eyes, Wally stepped forward, took his hands, and gave Conner a kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry about. It was my fault slowing down enough to tell him he looked like a hurt puppy dog. And I think the kissy noises I made didn't help at all."

"Never mind. You deserved it."

Zatanna cleared her throat. "Look, I'm enjoying being a third wheel throughout this time travel experience, but I want to get home. Artemis must be worried sick."

The two boys nodded. Hand in hand, they waited for Zatanna to finish her spell and whisk them all back to the cave. When the two got home that night, they decided to dig through old photos and go down memory lane despite the late hour.


End file.
